Mardock Scramble – The First Compression

Captivating and visually stunning this first instalment of the Scramble series is an all out cinematic experience that will delight the senses.

It would be difficult for any anime with a running time of this length to be able to boast flawless animation from start to finish, but Mardock Scramble stakes such a claim. Truly, you’ll be hard pushed to find another manga that looks just this good on screen and if you appreciate your visuals you’ll be hooked within the first few seconds.

Set within a futuristic cityscape the story centres on Rune-Balot, a young prostitute who falls prey to the masochistic tendencies of Shell, an underground criminal with a nasty habit of killing the girls he sleeps with to adorn his hands with blue sapphires.

It starts with a sigh: “I wish I was dead” as Rune gazes down at the sprawling metropolis below, her head lolling against the glass of Shell’s limo. In the next scene when locked in and now cottoned to Shell’s sinister plan she scrambles frantically screaming “I don’t want to die”. This in short sets the tone for a piece that centres upon stark oppositions and psychological conflict which plays out both in its scenes and characters. Given the choice between life and slipping into death Rune (at some subconscious level) chooses to come back as a cyborg made possible by case officer Dr. Easter and Mardock Scramble 09 – “an emergency ordinance to preserve life that gives special dispensation to use technology that’s otherwise forbidden”.

With a newfound ability to manipulate electrical objects Rune starts her life anew by assisting in the case against Shell and the shady October Cooperation.

Aimed at older audiences this psychologically complex thriller boasts beautiful backdrops juxtaposed by insidious and gritty content. It feels like a much darker version of Ghost in the Shell with a lead that hasn’t yet come to terms to her place in the world. It’s a struggle and a journey but thankfully she is not alone.

Oeufcocque who is paired with Rune is able to change shape and purpose to suit the needs of his user and often chooses the form of a golden mouse when he’s not saving her from assassins. A universal item he ironically becomes just what Rune needs in the form of a friend and partner giving them both a purpose to take care of one another above and beyond their job to remain useful. Interactions between the fragile and damaged Balot and her sympathetic mouse partner prove quite moving and are balanced well with an epic guns-blazing battle complete with a cliff hanger ending that will have you crying for more.

Admittedly some villains at the end do come across cliché. The writer was clearly going for a band of crooks with sadistic tendencies bordering on the fetish but they just lacked the depth that the rest of the film had making them little more than frantic and disturbed cannon fodder for an action scene. That said it was only a very minor flaw in an otherwise very good piece of anime and besides your eyes will be so enamoured with how Mardock Scramble looks that you really won’t care.

The director’s cut is advised for scenes that lend more sense to the plot and you’ll need to watch it at least twice to fully grasp everything, however, The First Compression remains striking, dramatic and original and comes highly recommended. I eagerly await Mardock Scramble – The Second Combustion.

Angelic Rogue